73-87chevytrucks.com - Crew Cab Project

[Captkaos]

I picked up the Crew Cab on Sept 4th to replace my daily driver.  Since then I have been working on a few things to make it nicer.  The first thing I addressed was the flooring.  It came with vinyl flooring and I wanted to change to carpet.  Once I got the interior torn down I realized that the floor needed to be addressed, so I started cleaning on it.

[Captkaos]

Sept 22, 2007:: after cleaning the floor and finding some rust in the floor I purchased some rust preventative paint and scuffed the floor and painted over it.  I also ordered some Durback roll on liner to seal the floor.  I also spent some time cleaning up the seats and the seat belts.  Diluted Super Clean does wonders on vinyl seating.  I used a mild detergent on the seatbelts and let them soak overnight.

Sept 25, 2007: With the floors cleaned I painted the floor with the rust preventative paint and let it dry

Sept 26, 2007: Once the floors were dry I applied the Durabak to the floor with the supplied roller.  Everything was coated including the kicks and the rear shelf.

[Captkaos]

Sept 27, 2007: I ordered new carpet from our supplier ACC (who just aquired ACS) and recieve the incorrect version.  Seems the R/V and 1 ton got them confused.

Oct 17th, 2007: I recieved the correct high hump 4 speed carpet (all 1 tons are like this) and laid it out and then installed it.  I also ordered complimentary door panel pieces and kick panels, but there was a flaw in the pattern so I returned it with a stock panel for comparison.

Nov 2, 2007: I recieved the correct front and rear panels earlier and installed them

[Captkaos]

Nov 4th, 2007: I decided to fix the previous owners attempt at mounting a new radio in the truck and figured while I was there I would fix the fan switch also.

[123 pugsy]

Looking Great! 

[BLUE BURBAN]

Looks nice Chris. I'm kinda torn between going with carpet or sticking with the vinyl flooring and replacing it since it's pretty torn up.

[Captkaos]

Thanks guys.  If I didn't plan to add a overhead console, trim, and a headliner I would have put the vinyl in.  But since I got it for carrying my daughter around comfortable, I went the plush route.  Next on the agenda is the seat covers.

[VileZambonie]

Cool that floor came out great!

[85MudMonster]

reminds me of the old Chevy 6 Pack we used to have at work, it was nice, well I liked it but it was beat up. now we got a '04 Chevy 2500 Turbo Diesel crew cab and that thing is real fun to drive, lots of power in those things.

[Captkaos]

Thursday, April 24th, 2008: The new seat covers came in for both front and rear seats.

Friday, April 25th, 2008: Dropped off my old Jeep bicycle rack at Toolmasters so he could modify it to fit the crew cab reciever hitch.

Sunday, April 27th, 2008: Pulled the drivers side door apart to replace the run channel and outer scrapers I got from GM, and I replaced the door armrest and readjusted the track so it doesn't fall out when rolling it down.  Still need to paint the arm rest.  On the rear drivers door I replaced the armrest with one I picked up.

Monday, April 28th, 2008:  New seat cushion came it for the front seat, but don't know if I will be able to install it before we leave to Maggie Valley show.

[dunedigger]

i'm always on the look out for a crew cab, just havn't found the right one yet, nice looking truck

[N2TRUX]

Nice progress Chris. When you going to cut it down and put a short bed on it?

[Captkaos]

well after the 78 Jimmy is running/driving, after the 73-87 truck is running/driving and after Su is running/driving.  Since this one is currently running/driving, I am just going to make updates to it.  Seat being recovered is next on the list.

[Captkaos]

Fuel mileage update:  Our trip to Maggie valley was 402.6 miles one way, we made 2 stops to there and one back, but I was still had fuel left.  This is the breakdown on the trip
1) topped off the tank at 153373.5
2) 296m later filled the tank again at 153669.5 with 17.347g =  17.063mpg
3) 106.6m later filled the tank again at 153776.1 with 8.102g =  13.157mpg
This was driving highway miles at 55mph
4) 228.8m later filled the tank again at 1540004.9.1 with 13.299g =  17.204mpg
5) 215.8m later filled the tank again at 154220.7 with 16.220g =  13.305mpg
This leg on the way home we ran 65mpg
Legs 3 and 5 had stop/go mixed in.

total mileage was 847.2m
total fuel was 54.968g
total average is at 15.413mpg

I am pretty impressed since my 87 305 got 17mpg last time I checked it, and this is a 1 ton!

[Stewart G Griffin]

i was curious why figures for  3 and 4 were lower than 1 and 5.

Also, what engine is this?